Harvard basketball coach Frank Sullivan should be fired.
Despite what the Harvard Athletics Web site calls "its most successful era in history," Harvard has achieved little over the past 15 years. They have not won an Ivy title, they have not made the NCAA tournament, and have never garnered a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.
Sullivan has achieved the respect of his peers. Penn coach Glen Miller said he has "done a terrific job over the course of his career." Miller added that he admired Sullivan, noting that "he knows the game inside and out." But given this, Frank Sullivan should have accomplished more.
I am not complaining - after all, Penn has taken advantage by winning 10 Ivy League titles. However, Sullivan's forced departure is warranted for two reasons. First off, coaches should be held to a certain standard of excellence. Secondly, it is in Penn's and the Ivy League's best interest to have the best competition possible.
There are other Ivy teams and other Ivy coaches who have been disappointing, but no other coach has been granted the opportunity to coach one team as long as Sullivan has.
When longtime Penn coach Fran Dunphy left the Palestra sideline, Frank Sullivan became the longest-tenured coach in the Ivies. He is currently in his 16th year with the Crimson.
Every year, the conference champion, regardless of whether it is Penn or not, will play 14 games against Ivy teams. The better these opponents are, the better prepared that team will be to succeed in the tournament, both through preparation and seeding.
Including all games this season, Sullivan has accumulated a record of 174-236 overall and 88-124 in conference play. Sullivan inherited a weak team from Peter Roby, who led Harvard to a 9-17 record in the 1990-1991 season. Even if we ignore Sullivan's first four seasons as he rebuilt Harvard from the ground up, Sullivan's record is 139-152 overall and 70-84 in the league.
Given that Harvard has never had a strong winning tradition in basketball, perhaps the administration has low expectations. However, athletic director Bob Scalise surely knows what success looks like with his successful hockey, football and fencing programs. Harvard has one of the best athletic histories in the nation, but the hoops program doesn't reflect it.
In the end, a coach should be judged on how he performs against conference teams, and Sullivan has not fared well at all. His average league position over the last 12 years is 4.7, and his team has finished second once, third twice, fourth four times, and in the bottom half of the standings eight times.
Sullivan, in his defense, noted that his Crimson have the third-best record overall and the third-best Ivy record over the last 10 years. However, Sullivan wouldn't say whether his teams have been particular successes or failures.
We "continue to talk to our guys about staying in the present and avoiding the mental traps of time travel backwards or forwards when it comes to the Ivy games. It's tough enough as it is," he said.
Perhaps the ultimate measure in Ivy play is how a team plays against the two standard-bearers, Penn and Princeton. In 60 meetings with those two teams, Sullivan has garnered just five victories.
Harvard has the potential to be a winning team. It is located in a great city and routinely plays strong opponents from big-name conferences.
Frank Sullivan is frequently referred to as a good man and a good coach. At the end of the year, he will have had sixteen seasons to prove himself. Unfortunately, Harvard under his tutelage has rarely been more than average.
Matt Meltzer is a senior political science major from Glen Rock, N.J. His e-mail address is meltzerm@sas.upenn.edu.
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